Princeton University

Nikolaus Wegmann, a Germanist and literary historian with a strong interest in media culture, received his intellectual training at Bielefeld (Promotion 1984), Cornell University, and K�ln (Habilitation 1998). He has taught german literature at Bielefeld and K�ln and media studies at Potsdam,� the Hochschule f�r Film und Fernsehen M�nchen, and at the Institut f�r Theater , Film und Fernsehwissenschaft K�ln; he has also held positions as visiting professor at the University of Iowa and the University of Washington. Wegmann was a key figure in large scale research projects on the history of Germanistik (Bielefeld) and on the intersection of media and cultural communication, organized jointly by the universities of K�ln, Bonn, and Aachen as 'Sonderforschungsbereich Medien und kulturelle Kommunikation.'

In his teaching and research, Wegmann focuses on the history of german literature (from Fortunatus to Alexander Kluge), the� history of philology (Friedrich A. Wolf to Paul de Man), literary theory (issues of literary authority, engagement, and accessibility) and media culture (i.e. the library as a source of creativity and on the history of 'Originalton'). His methodological know-how is based on systems theory, discourse analysis, deconstruction, intellectual history, and the golden age of philology (from Friedrich Schlegel to Nietzsche); he has a particular interest in media-based cultural constellations. His long-term research project deals with basic philological and cultural techniques such as� rereading or searching and finding, especially in regard to their epistemological contribution to an understanding of such complex realities as 'literature' or 'library'.